Getty Golden Tate #15 of the New York Giants catches a 20 yard touchdown pass thrown by Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants.
All signs pointed towards New York Giants wide receiver Golden Tate being ready to go come tonight’s Week 1 opener vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, that’s no longer the case.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan has reported that Tate will be inactive for Monday night’s bout against the Steelers. Tate was originally listed as questionable heading into the game due to a lingering hamstring injury which he suffered nearly two weeks ago.
WR Golden Tate (hamstring) will be inactive Monday night vs. Steelers, per source. He was listed as questionable. Need to make sure it’s not something that lingers. There’s another 15 games. Daniel Jones waits yet again to have all his weapons on the field for at least one snap.
Tate’s inactive ruling comes as a bit of a surprise considering the optimism that head coach Joe Judge showed towards his wideout’s health earlier in the week.
“He’s moving well right now,” Judge said of Tate. “We’ve been mixing him into some of the things we have been doing in practice. Individuals, a little bit of team work, some group work. He looks like he’s coming along nice. He’s working hard every day and doing what he can to get back.”
Giants & Steelers Inactives
All in all, the Giants have ruled seven players inactive for tonight’s 7:10 pm ET kickoff.
Full List of Giants Inactives
- WR Golden Tate
- LB T.J. Brunson
- LB Cam Brown
- LB Tae Crowder
- G Shane Lemieux
- OT Jackson Barton
- DE RJ McIntosh
The Steelers tab six players with an inactive designation, including five-time Pro Bowl guard David Decastro and fourth-round rookie running back Anthony McFarland Jr.
Full List of Steelers Inactives
- QB Joshua Dobbs
- RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
- G David DeCastro
- LB Ulysees Gilbert III
- DT Carlos Davis
- TE Zach Gentry
Major Blow for Giants Offense
Losing Tate for tonight’s game means stripping Big Blue of one of the most dynamic playmakers in all of football. No wide receiver has forced more missed tackles over the past decade than the former Notre Dame standout.
Tate enjoyed a stellar debut season with the Giants in 2019, topping 80 receiving yards in four of his first six games. He would go on to finish the season with six touchdowns in just 11 games, the second-most in his 10-year career.
With Tate on the mend, expect a heavy workload for wideouts Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton vs. Pittsburgh. The latter of which is coming off a fantastic rookie campaign, collecting 740 receiving yards on 48 receptions and eight touchdowns (tied with Titans’ AJ Brown for most amongst all rookies).
Tight end Evan Engram and running back Saquon Barkley should see an uptick in usage, while camp star CJ Board and recently acquired wideout Damion Ratley could also both factor into the passing attack tonight.
Second-year quarterback Daniel Jones will have his hands full tonight. If having a depleted supporting cast wasn’t enough for the young signal-caller, the Steelers ranked as the third-best pass defense in all of football this past season.
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